1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inverted pendulum type vehicle which is operable to move on a floor surface. More particularly, the present invention relates to an inverted pendulum type vehicle including a control device which controls actuator devices so as to move the vehicle according to command received from a portable device.
2. Description of the Background Art
There is a known inverted pendulum type vehicle in which an occupant boarding member capable of tilting with respect to a vertical direction is assembled to a base to which a moving operation part for moving on a floor surface and an actuator device for driving the moving operation part are assembled. An example of such inverted pendulum type vehicle is disclosed in the Patent Document PCT
The inverted pendulum type vehicle controls the moving operation of the moving operation part in such a form as to move the fulcrum of an inverted pendulum in order to prevent the occupant boarding member on which an occupant is boarded from inclining to fall down.
In the Patent Document PCT Patent Publication No. WO2011/33575, for example, an inverted pendulum type vehicle has been proposed by the present applicant. Such inverted pendulum type vehicle can be moved on a floor surface in all directions including the forward-rearward direction and the left-right direction of an occupant by driving a (first) moving operation part according to the tilting of an occupant boarding member or the like.
Conventional inverted pendulum type vehicles, such as shown in Patent Document PCT Patent Publication No. WO2011/33575, require skillful steering techniques for operation of the vehicles. For example, the occupant generally needs to have skillful steering techniques to make a smooth turn, and depending on the movement of the occupant, there may occur an offset with respect to a direction intended by the occupant.
Accordingly, in order to enhance the stability or operability of turning behavior of the vehicle, a (second) moving operation part (which will hereinafter be referred to as an auxiliary moving operation part) that is coupled to the base such that an interval exists between the auxiliary moving operation part and the moving operation part present in the forward-rearward direction and which can move in all the directions including the forward-rearward direction and the left-right direction may be added to the vehicle, and control may be performed so as to impart a driving force to the auxiliary moving operation part so that the auxiliary moving operation part can move in at least the left-right direction.
In this case, in the left-right direction, the moving operation part and the auxiliary moving operation part are controlled such that the auxiliary moving operation part has a same velocity as the moving operation part, whereby the turning of the vehicle is suppressed. In addition, in the left-right direction, the moving operation part and the auxiliary moving operation part are controlled such that the auxiliary moving operation part has a different velocity from the moving operation part, whereby the vehicle can be turned smoothly. Thus configuring the auxiliary moving operation part improves the controllability of the inverted pendulum type vehicle.
However, even when the inverted pendulum type vehicle is thus configured, operations by the tilting of the occupant boarding member by body weight movement include difficult steering such as moving in the left-right direction without turning the vehicle, for example, and thus require skillful steering techniques of the occupant.
The present invention has been made in view of such a background. Accordingly, it is one of the objects of the present invention to provide an inverted pendulum type vehicle that makes it possible to learn how to steer the vehicle.